We love talking to Wrimos who’ve published their NaNoWriMo projects and asking them how they got there. Today, Jamie Raintree, author of the upcoming novel Perfectly Undone, shares her story of the winding path she took to becoming a published author:

There was once a time when I didn’t know people could write novels. I mean, not real, every day kind of people. Obviously someone wrote novels, otherwise I would have had nothing to do with myself during those long, lonely hours of my teen years and young adulthood. (If only we could go back to that, right?)
And then a Google search one desperate, longing-filled day led me to something that would truly change my life: it led me here, to National Novel Writing Month, where real, every day kind of people were writing novels. 

Up until that moment, I’d only written short stories and I had a couple of very sad attempts at novels sitting on my hard drive, none of which had ever surpassed a few thousand words. I knew I had more to say than I could convey in the short pieces I’d been writing, but up until I discovered this sacred place, I thought I needed permission to write an novel.

Turns out, I didn’t. (And neither do you, by the way, but since you’re reading this and have already found the sacred place, I’m assuming you’ve had this epiphany too.)

During our “Now What?” Months, we’re talking to Wrimos who’ve self-published their NaNoWriMo projects and asking them about the steps they took to make it happen. Today, Manuel Ruiz, author of the upcoming Lobo Coronado and the Legacy of the Wolf, shares what he’s learned on the rocky road to self-publishing:

I self-published my first novel a little more than a year ago, and my second novel will be out in a few weeks. Prior to that first release, I spent significant time via writing groups and organizations and reading everything I could get my hands on how to self-publish. The two most important things that seemed to be universal (and incur the most cost) were: 

1. Find an editor
2. Get a great cover.

My manuscript was already edited so I researched and found a cover designer. Once that was ready, I thought about how I was going to get the word out. 

During January of our “Now What?” Months, we’re talking to Wrimos who’ve published their NaNoWriMo projects and asking them how they got there. Today, Katherine Webber, author of Wing Jones, shares her story about the ups and downs of querying multiple manuscripts:

I love everything about NaNoWriMo. I love the community. I love the writing sprints. I love that it forces writers to sit down and get all the amazing stories in their head out on paper. 

NaNoWriMo 2014 was my second time participating in NaNoWriMo. I’d done it the first time the year before, and I can still remember that feeling of euphoria when I hit 50K and won NaNo, and I knew I was going to be a NaNoWriMo devotee. My 2013 NaNo-novel wasn’t ready to go out in the world, but it did give me the confidence that I could write 50,000 words in a month.

I had an idea about a girl runner, but that was all I had. I didn’t know who she was or why she was running. I sat down on November 1 and started writing to find out her story. I think something about the fast pace of drafting during NaNo really helped the flow of my story, as I had to write the words almost as fast as my character was running. By the end of the month I had 50K. It was a hot mess of 50K, but a hot mess I could work with.

During January of our “Now What?” Months, we’re talking to Wrimos who’ve published their NaNoWriMo projects and asking them how they got there. Today, Angela Quarles, author of Must Love Breeches, shares her 7-step revision process… and the need to revise from big to little:

I know what you’re thinking. It’s a mess, right?

You rode the heady wave that is NaNoWriMo, pounding your way across the keyboard and your story, set on reaching the goal of 50,000 words before the month of November ended. And you did it!

And after you took the advice to let it sit for the month of December you’re now looking at in the full glare of January, and… you’re cringing. Some of you might even think it’s just too much to tackle and are contemplating trunking it and chalking it up to a good (or bad) experience.

Don’t.

During January of our “Now What?” Months, we’re talking to Wrimos who’ve published their NaNoWriMo projects and asking them how they got there. Today, Alison Stine, author of Supervision, shares the novel-revision lessons she learned as a teacher of English Composition:

For years I taught English Composition to first-year college students. And while grading 90 or more three-paragraph essays every other week is probably not the best day job for a writer in need of time and creative reserves, it did teach me a lot about revision. The best way to learn something, really learn it, is to teach it. And there’s no greater crash course in revision than staring down a pack of hungry teenagers who want specific ways to improve their writing.

My first published novel, Supervision, was written one hectic November. I wrote fast and I wrote hard. I wrote messy. Very very messy. And what I was left with at the end of the month was a single-spaced, frequently-misspelled, sometimes confusing ball of words.  

What comes next is still my favorite part.

During January of our “Now What?” Months, we’re talking to Wrimos who’ve published their NaNoWriMo projects and asking them how they got there. Today, Sonja Yoerg, author of The Middle of Somewhere, shares why each individual book requires you to learn how to write all over again:

To me, the prospect of writing 50,000 words in a month was as daunting as a dog-paddler standing on the Dover shore contemplating a Channel crossing; I was certain to drown before I reached the shipping lanes. I’m a painstaking writer, at the mercy of my in-line editor, more comfortable splashing around in the shallows of what I’d already written than in the dark waters ahead.

NaNoWriMo would be good for me, I reasoned, forcing my speed to increase in a sink-or-swim fashion. I had another motivation, too. During the fall of 2012, I was querying agents with my first novel and the NaNo challenge seemed the perfect distraction from that arduous, soul-destroying process.

Jack Soren is a frequent participant of NaNoWriMo, and recently sold a book series to HarperCollins’ Witness Impulse imprint—the first of which, called The Monarch, is available now. We talk to him about his book, and just how he found himself published:

Have you participated in NaNoWriMo? 

I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo several times over the years. The community and general helpfulness is fantastic. The opportunity to work with and mentor other writers is just as amazing.

The first third of the The Monarch’s first draft was written during a recent NaNoWriMo. I continued writing for months afterward to bring it to completion, but I have no doubt that without NaNoWriMo there wouldn’t have been anything to finish.

You recently became a signed author with HarperCollins. Congratulations! How did that happen? What steps did you make to go from an unsigned author to a signed one?

Anthony Francis is a long-time NaNoWriMo participant, who’s recently published the first book in his series about Dakota Frost, a tattoo artist with magical powers. We talked with him about revision, publication, and 24-Hour Comics Day:

The first two books in your SkinDancer trilogy started as NaNo drafts. Can you talk about them?

Yes! The cores of both Frost Moon and Blood Rock were written during NaNoWriMo. I’d been planning ideas around my protagonist, a magical tattoo artist named Dakota Frost, and had written a couple of hundred words when November rolled around and I decided to tackle NaNo.

I became so happy with Frost Moon that I started working on a second book, which became Blood Rock. I had 12,000 words before November, and tacked on another 50,000 during the course of the month. That’s when I decided that I didn’t care about following the rules specifically. Every November, I’d pick a novel—unwritten or not—and add 50,000 words to it, and that would be my challenge. And I’ve done it ever since!

After November’s over, revision time inevitably rolls around. Do you have any advice for those of us who will soon be struggling in the revision doldrums?

Jason Hough is the NYT best-selling author of The Darwin Elevator, a science-fiction novel set in Darwin, Australia. An alien race has built a space elevator there without explanation, and a deadly disease has started to spread across the planet, turning even survivors into “subhumans”. We were blown away by Jason’s success and he was kind enough to answer a few questions for us.

You’re a New York Times Bestseller! Congratulations! How does it feel?

NaNoWriMo has found its way into elementary classrooms and universities, foreign countries and hometowns. But did you know that NaNoWriMo also has a place in the prison system? Dedicated volunteers like Tilia Klebenov Jacobs give inmates an opportunity to voice their stories. Tilia will be teaching NaNoWriMo in four prisons in Massachusetts this fall. She also recently published a thriller titled Wrong Place, Wrong Time.

First, tell us about your book that just came out! Was it a NaNo project?

Yep!  My book is called Wrong Place, Wrong Time, and it was my 2009 NaNo-novel. It came out on June 1. A brief teaser:

When Tsara Adelman leaves her husband and two young children for a weekend to visit her estranged uncle, she little dreams he is holding several local children captive on his lavish estate. Mike Westbrook, father of one of the boys, kidnaps her to trade her life for the children’s. Soon Tsara and Mike are fleeing through New Hampshire’s mountain wilderness pursued by two rogue cops with murder on their minds.

That sounds great! You’ve also taught NaNoWriMo extensively in prisons. What inspired you to do that?

Teri Brown, Wrimo, resident history nut, and the author of Born of Illusion, a YA novel set in 1920’s New York, was kind enough to share how her NaNo-novel about Harry Houdini’s illegitimate daughter came to bookstores, and how writing taught her never to give up:

Your novel, Born of Illusion, came out this past June—it’s set in a dark and magical 1920s New York. What inspired you to write about this time?

The period of time between 1900 and 1930 has always fascinated me. It was a time of change across the board—women’s rights, technology, music, arts and literature were all going through a metamorphosis. Cultured hurtled into the modern age during that time and the affect all these changes had on people was incredible. It makes for a lot of conflict, which is what good stories thrive on.

What draws you to writing historical fiction?

Do you write based on your life experiences? We seized the opportunity to ask Dave Anthony a few questions about this very topic. Dave’s historical fiction novel, Love and Struggle: Beyond the Rubber Estates was informed by his experiences as a Catholic priest in Malaysia.

Your novel came out last year. What can you tell us about the story?

Love and Struggle: Beyond the Rubber Estates is a historical novel. It traces the struggles of Indian rubber plantation workers in Malaya through the oppressive machinations of the planters, the Indian overseers known as mandors or kanganies, and the governments under British, Japanese and again British rule.

Julie Murphy’s NaNoWriMo novel is set to be published in winter 2014. Side Effects May Vary is a story about sixteen-year-old Alice, who, after being diagnosed with leukemia, decides to spend her final months righting wrongs. But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission and is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done. Julie was lovely enough to answer our burning questions.

What have your NaNo experiences been like?

I have participated in NaNoWriMo twice. My first was in November of 2011 and the product was what is now Side Effects May Vary. My second time was actually Camp NaNoWriMo right after I sold Side Effects.

Man, I love NaNo. To me, it’s the Ironman Triathalon of writing—but with more junk food provisions—because if you’ve completed it, you wear it as a badge of honor. Plus, I thrive on a deadline. Without a deadline, I fall headfirst into my Netflix queue. And, ya know, the constant social media peer pressure doesn’t hurt.

After November’s over, revision time inevitably rolls around. What was your revision process like? Any words of wisdom?

Australian Jane Rawson took part in her first NaNoWriMo back in 2000, when she was living in Oakland, California. Jane now lives in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, and works as an editor at the cool news site The Conversation. One of her NaNoWriMo manuscripts, A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists, was just published. NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty pestered Jane to find out more about the book and her native land. 

Right now Camp NaNoWriMo participants are wrapping up the second week of their novels. What would you tell a writer going through Week Two of NaNoWriMo for the first time?

Camp NaNoWriMo is gearing up for July, and many of you are already hard at work storming up ideas. Are you ambitiously planning on writing a trilogy, perhaps? Well, Susan Dennard published her debut young adult novel Something Strange and Deadly, the first in an intriguing trilogy blending historical fiction, horror, romance, and mystery, and on July 23, the sequel, A Darkness Strange and Lovely, will hit shelves. Read on to learn how Susan used three years of NaNoWriMo to master her trilogy:

How did NaNoWriMo help you draft your novels?

It’s so easy to put writing off—even for books on deadline—but there’s something about knowing that I’ll start on x-date, work like a madwoman until x-date, and then finish with 50K that really helps me hunker down. I also think the sheer insanity and support that other writers bring to the whole NaNo-experience really helps keep me motivated, even after that first week when my productivity always wants to flag.  

How has your NaNo experience been different each year you wrote a book in your trilogy?